A New Insight Into the Treatment-Naive HIV Infected Patients: Whole Blood Viscosity

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The thickness and stickiness of an individual’s blood are measured by blood viscosity depending on frictional interactions between all major blood constituents such as red blood cells and plasma proteins. Blood viscosity, when it is elevated, is essential in the pathophysiology of vascular diseases. The present study employed an approach to determine if there is a correlation between blood viscosity and vascular comorbidities in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred and seventeen people were selected to participate in this study. The HIV group included 110 treatment naïve patients, and the control group had 107 people of similar age and sex. Whole blood viscosity (WBV) was measured by a formula from the protein concentration of plasma and haematocrit at a high shear rate (208 s-1) and a low shear rate (0.5 s-1). RESULTS: In contrast to the control group, WBV for LSR (53.5 25 vs. 39.1 25; p=0.001) and high shear rate (HSR) (16.8 1.2 vs. 15.9 1.4; p=0.001) was substantially higher in HIV infected patients. There was a substantial inverse correlation between the CD4 count and WBV in correlation analysis for LSR (r=-0.467; p<0.001) and HSR (r=-0.461; p<0.001) in patients with HIV. A significant correlation was detected for the WBV and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) for LSR (r=0.506; p<0.001) and HSR (r=0.488; p<0.001) in the HIV group. CONCLUSION: Our result shows a remarkable correlation between WBV and inflammation in treatment-naive HIV-positive individuals. The higher blood viscosity levels observed in those subjects with lower CD4 counts may also point to a link between viscosity and the severity of the immune deficiency.